Pushing Back Against Bullying

The federal Department of Education launched a new initiative on bullying this week, sending a "Dear Colleague" letter with advice to schools and colleges, with plans for a White House summit next year.

Prominent people in both political parties are coming together on the issue, including former first lady Laura Bush, who is the latest to endorse the It Gets Better project launched in reaction to a string of tragic deaths involving gays harassed because of their sexual orientation.

More than one-third of Americans (35 percent), including 39 percent of parents, say they were bullied themselves when growing up. But only 8 percent of the public and 10 percent of parents say they were bullied "a lot."

That would be reason enough to take the problem seriously, and there are a lot of good resources out there to do it. But the broader desire among parents and the public for safe, orderly schools is one of the most consistent themes we've found in our research over the last few years.